 | The material culture of Pueblo Bonito |  |
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Bone whistles.—Five fragments of tubular bone whistles (U.S.N.M.
Nos. 335114-335117) are our only wind instruments. They belong to
a class generally described as "birdcalls," and vary in length from
2[fraction 5 by 16] to 3⅛ inches. Each is broken at its vent, cut through one wall at
vent on two specimens lesser holes were drilled laterally through both
walls as though to support the diaphragm. Three of the five were
made from ulnae of the golden eagle; one, from the femur of a
bobcat. The fifth fragment is an unidentified mammal bone. All came
from Late Bonitian dwellings of third- or fourth-type construction.
An eagle wing-bone whistle is used in the Oraibi Powamu ceremony.
During the ninth song, one of the priests blows tiny bird feathers in
turn to each of the cardinal points and follows the blowing with a few
sharp notes on his whistle. During the fifth song on the fifth day, a
priest drops a pinch of corn pollen into a medicine bowl and then blows
upon it with a bone whistle (Voth, 1901, pp. 79, 80, 88).
On the afternoon of the first day of the Oraibi Oáqöl ceremony,
the chief priestess deposits prayer feathers and cornmeal near a certain
spring then blows four times on a bone whistle before depositing the
remainder of her offerings in the spring itself (Voth, 1903, p. 12).
While excavation of Hawikuh was in progress, specimens such as
our five fragments must have been were identified by elderly Zuñi as
birdcalls (Hodge, 1920, p. 128). Shorter ones may occasionally have
found a way onto necklaces or wrist guards but their prime purpose
was ceremonial.
Wooden flutes.—Six remarkable wooden flutes or fragments thereof
from Room 33 are described by Pepper (1909, pp. 199-204). Their
associated artifacts formed the paraphernalia of some society or religious
order. Wooden flutes have played a part in Pueblo life, both
secular and esoteric, from early times to the present day.
During his visit to a Tigua village in 1540, Castañeda observed that
music was piped for the pleasure of girls at their mealing bins. "A
man sits at the door playing on a fife while they grind, moving the
stones to the music and singing together" (Winship, 1896, p. 522).
Over 300 years later a like custom at Zuñi, but on a more elaborate
scale, was described by Cushing (1920, pp. 383-387). Few except
tribesmen would recognize music in the squealing of a Zuñi flute.
Shell trumpet.—The shell trumpet illustrated on plate 82, b, lay in
front of the accompanying black-on-white bowl in the north bench
recess, Kiva R. It has been identified as Phyllonotus nitidus Broderip,
with a range from Magdalena Bay, Lower California, to Acapulco.
Its spire has been ground off, opening into the body; its outer lip is
drilled, presumably for a suspension cord; the tip of the columella and
most nodules are somewhat battered; a slight polish on the varices
evidences repeated handling.
Among several fragments of like shells are two, from Room 201
(U.S.N.M. No. 335721). The second of these two still retains traces
of its coniferous-pitch mouthpiece.
Pepper (1920, pp. 69, 85, 190) found several shell trumpets, some
with mouthpieces of clay and "gum," during the course of his excavations
at Pueblo Bonito. Shell trumpets are still employed in Hopi
and Zuñi rituals.
| The material culture of Pueblo Bonito | |